Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hood for an ultrasonic endoscope and an ultrasonic endoscope device, and in particular, to a hood for an ultrasonic endoscope and an ultrasonic endoscope that prevent close contact of a body wall (such as a mucous membrane) to an observation window.
Description of the Related Art
As an ultrasonic endoscope, a known one is equipped with an electronic scanning ultrasonic transducer at a distal end part of an insertion part of an endoscope. While an ultrasonic image of a lesion is being obtained by the ultrasonic transducer, some treatment is performed, such as a puncture needle led out from a treatment instrument lead-out port at the distal end part through a treatment instrument channel is pricked to the lesion, and a cell tissue of the lesion is obtained.
In addition, the ultrasonic endoscope is equipped with an imaging device and a lighting device in addition to the ultrasonic transducer, enables observation by an optical image in the same manner with a general endoscope, and can surely guide the puncture needle to a target region by enabling observation of the optical image until the puncture needle is approximated to a body wall and the body wall is punctured.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-268751 discloses a hood used for an ultrasonic endoscope. According to the description, a cylindrical hood is attached to a distal end part of the endoscope, and a space surrounded by the hood is sucked by a suction channel in a state where a distal end opening of the hood abuts on an object region. This enables the object region to abut on an ultrasonic vibrator by drawing the object region into the hood, and stabilizes a relative position between the object region and the ultrasonic vibrator.